12 Kingdom Insights from Richard Montanez
The Man Behind Flamin' Hot Cheetos — From Janitor to Harvard Lecturer
2026 Business & Leadership Conference • Living Word Christian Center • Forest Park, Illinois
Hosted by Dr. Bill Winston • 32nd Annual Conference
I just got back from the 2026 Business & Leadership Conference (BLC) hosted by Dr. Bill Winston at Living Word Christian Center in Forest Park, Illinois. This was the 32nd year of this conference, and the theme was “The Blessing: Anointed for Business.” If you’re a Kingdom-minded entrepreneur or business leader and you’ve never been to this conference, put it on your calendar for next year.
I’ll be sharing notes from several sessions, but this one was one of the most impactful. This story is absolutely amazing, and I knew I had to put it together for the people I mentor and coach.
One of the featured speakers was Richard Montanez. If you don’t know his name, you know his product. He’s the man behind Flamin’ Hot Cheetos — a product line that generates billions in revenue. But the product isn’t the story. The man is.
What makes Richard’s story different from a typical “rags to riches” narrative is this: he has literally relied on the Holy Spirit for insight his entire career. Not as a tagline. As a lifestyle. He said, “I study 24/7 and I allow myself to let God use me.” Every business decision, every creative idea, every career breakthrough came from stepping into what he calls “the realm of God.” He didn’t network his way to the top. He didn’t credential his way there. He submitted to God’s leading and let the Spirit direct his steps for over four decades.
Richard grew up in a migrant labor camp in Southern California. One of ten children. His entire family picked grapes. He dropped out of school in the fourth grade because of language barriers. No high school diploma. No GED. At 18, he was hired as a janitor at the Frito-Lay plant in Rancho Cucamonga. His wife Judy filled out the application because he could barely read or write.
He also spoke openly about how Dr. Bill Winston’s ministry shaped his life. He said, “The first time I heard Dr. Bill Winston was many, many years ago. I started following him. He became a mentor of mine. I preached his sermons across the country.” Richard and his wife have been under Dr. Winston’s teaching for over 30 years. He called Dr. Winston “one of the smartest individuals I’ve ever heard.”
It was through that ministry relationship that someone spoke “you have a spirit of excellence” over Richard, and that single impartation redirected the entire trajectory of his life. He went from mopping floors to managing billions — and he traces it back to that word and that relationship.
Today? He teaches at Harvard University and Notre Dame. He’s had lunch or dinner with every U.S. president since Ronald Reagan. He and his wife Judy have been together nearly 50 years and have great-grandchildren. He runs a foundation called One Light that buys 50,000 pairs of shoes every year, feeds millions, and gives away thousands of backpacks.
None of that came from a degree. None of it came from connections. It came from the wisdom of God and a willingness to be faithful in the small things.
Richard didn’t pitch Flamin’ Hot Cheetos because he had a marketing degree or an MBA. God dropped a creative idea into the spirit of a janitor who was faithful and willing to act on it.
He took unseasoned Cheetos home, seasoned them with spices inspired by Mexican street corn (elote), and had the audacity to call the CEO of Frito-Lay directly. His wife Judy helped him research marketing at the public library so he could put a presentation together.
That’s a man relying on God for the idea and then doing the work to steward it.
This was the single most powerful and recurring theme of Richard’s entire message. He returned to it again and again throughout the session. It is the thread that ties his entire life story together — from janitor to executive, from mopping floors to managing billions.
Richard traced the concept of impartation all the way back to Scripture. The first impartation in the Bible was when God breathed into Adam and Adam woke up — life transferred from God into man. The second, according to Richard, was when Moses laid hands on Joshua. Moses knew economics, leadership, military strategy, how to lead an entire nation. When he laid hands on Joshua, all of that knowledge, all of that wisdom, all of that anointing was transferred. Joshua went from a slave and stonecutter to one of the greatest generals and leaders in human history. There was no school. There was no training program. There was impartation.
Richard’s personal experience with impartation is what launched everything. Over 30 years ago, he met one of his teachers — a man he’d been following and learning from since the early days. The first time they met, this man looked at Richard and said: “Brother Richard, you have a spirit of excellence.”
That single sentence changed everything. Richard didn’t fully understand it at first, but he studied the word “excellence” and it transformed how he approached every single thing in his life. As a janitor, he took out the trash with excellence. He mopped the floor with excellence. He said:
Down the road, that faithfulness in the small things led to promotions. He went from janitor to managing 50,000 employees and a $10 billion budget at PepsiCo. All because somebody imparted one word: excellence.
Richard also explained why impartation is God’s grace in action. He said grace is not fair. That’s why Jesus said “the last will be first, the first will be last.” Someone who went to school for 20 years might watch God pour into a man who can barely read — and that man passes them. That’s not injustice. That’s grace. That’s acceleration.
He also explained that Paul wrote “be careful who you lay hands on” because impartation is real. There is a genuine transfer. And for those who are successful, he gave a direct charge:
At the end of his message, a woman named Jackie Frazier stood up and asked Richard to consider mentoring her. She owns a gourmet popcorn company called Aloha. Richard responded by telling her that he created a flavor of popcorn that sells half a billion dollars every year. He didn’t dismiss her. He prayed over her. He demonstrated exactly what he had been teaching — impartation in real time.
Richard made a powerful point. When Adam fell, God removed him from the Garden. But God never destroyed it. He placed a guard there with a sword. Why? Because Adam knew where it was. Adam told his family where the Garden was, but he wasn’t allowed to enter anymore.
When Jesus came, He became the door back in. Everything we need is still in the Garden. Four streams of wealth flowed from within the Garden, not from the outside. Everything you need to succeed is already within you. Your job is to release it.
Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s house, trained in leadership, battle strategy, economics, and wealth — all in the camp of the enemy. All redeemed by God later. Joshua was born a slave and became one of the greatest generals in history.
Richard himself grew up in the camps, with gang violence, poverty, and hunger as his daily reality. His father was shot. He used to bail his mother out of jail. He was arrested at 10 years old for stealing food because he was hungry. But he came to understand that God redeems every environment, every hardship, every struggle. He wastes nothing.
Every great idea first looks ridiculous. You as an executive? Ridiculous. You as a millionaire? Ridiculous. You as a billionaire? Ridiculous. If the fear of looking foolish stops you, it will stop your destiny.
Richard preached on the streets by himself. He went to places where people questioned his motives. He started a ministry with his wife making lunches for prostitutes and standing outside clubs telling men about God’s love. He threw himself out there and got laughed at his entire life.
This one will step on some toes, and Richard apologized before he said it. “If you’re working for a wage, you’re actually a slave.” He explained that Pharaoh didn’t keep the Israelites in chains. He paid them. He raised prices on their food, gave them housing in a restricted area, and controlled them through wages.
Richard started buying PepsiCo stock as a young man. By 30, he had $2 million in stock while still working on the line. He didn’t even know it was there until he checked his portfolio one day. Today, he hasn’t checked his bank account in 15 years — he goes where he wants and buys what he wants because he trusts God is filling it up.
Richard has never downsized in his entire career. While other CEOs were cutting headcount to impress shareholders, he was creating jobs. He said when he sees a CEO downsizing, his first thought is: “They don’t know what to do.” The simplest move is to cut people. The Kingdom move is to create.
He now teaches the banking industry twice a year in Chicago, New York, and Utah. The same man who got kicked out of a bank because he and his wife kept bouncing checks now teaches bank presidents. A young woman at the bank saved them that day by telling them to open a $2-$5 account across the street before the signal went out. Thirty years later, he’s teaching those same institutions.
Richard made a fascinating point about science and faith. Scientists can pinpoint every function in the brain. Blink, move your finger, move your toes — they know exactly where it happens. But there’s one thing they all agree exists that they cannot locate: the mind. Why? Because the mind is a spirit. It lives in a different realm. The realm where everything is possible.
He also shared how scientists have discovered that words carry powerful vibrations. The word “peace” can destroy the vibration of “anxiety” — but anxiety cannot destroy peace. This is what brought down the walls of Jericho. When God told the people to shout, the vibration literally destroyed the walls. Scientists are now beginning to use vibration to destroy cancer cells.
Richard told the story of Jesus going to Samaria, where the economy was built on hog farming. The people used pigs to keep Jewish people out. Jesus sent demons into the pigs, drove them over a cliff, and destroyed that economy. The people told Him to leave.
But when Jesus came back a second time, there was a new, thriving economy. Hotels. Restaurants. A place of welcome. Archeologists have confirmed that Samaria became a prosperous, welcoming community. And the first person Jesus ever sent out to evangelize wasn’t a disciple — it was the demon-possessed man who got delivered.
Richard had a heart attack AND a stroke on stage during a speaking engagement. He went blind in one eye mid-presentation. He prayed, “God, I’m going to look like a fool up here if I fall down, and I just talked about the power that You have.”
He finished the presentation. Took a question from the audience while blind in one eye. Walked off stage. The doctors later found that his heart had developed hundreds, possibly thousands, of new arteries — a phenomenon called collateral bypass. The blood found its way.
His wife reminded him during recovery that he couldn’t count backwards from 100 by nines. She said, “Richard, you could never do that.” He jumped up and said, “You’re right. Let’s go home.”
Money is like water. Water is alive. It’s designed to flow. When water stops moving, the atoms stop bouncing, and it begins to die. Resources work the same way. That $100 you’ve had in your pocket for six months is dying.
Let it flow. Open up four streams. You don’t have to fill them. Just open them. God will fill them. Richard put it plainly: “My wages didn’t make me rich. God did. Hot Cheetos didn’t make me rich. It just gave me a story. I was rich before that. I was the first janitor millionaire.”
He even shared a story about a product brand that wasn’t performing well. He took cases of the product, snuck into his church before service, and placed them on the altar as an offering. That same day, he received an email that the product had just sold $10 million into Walmart.
Richard didn’t pitch Flamin’ Hot Cheetos because he had a marketing degree or an MBA. God dropped a creative idea into the spirit of a janitor who was faithful and willing to act on it. He took unseasoned Cheetos home, seasoned them with spices inspired by Mexican street corn, and had the audacity to call the CEO of Frito-Lay. His wife helped him research marketing at the public library so he could put a presentation together.
That’s a man relying on God for the idea and then doing the work to steward it. He said, “God said, I’m going to use you with an idea.” Hot Cheetos didn’t make him rich. It gave him a story. He was already walking in the realm of provision before the product ever launched. That’s what happens when you let the Holy Spirit lead your business.
Richard made this critical point about how God operates: Jesus picked all business people as His disciples. Peter was a fisherman running a business. Matthew was a tax collector handling money. Every single one of them was in commerce. Not one religious leader. Not one scholar. Not one priest. He chose entrepreneurs.
And where did Jesus go to preach? Not the synagogue first — the marketplace. Where people buy and sell and deal. He went to where business happens because that’s where transformation happens. Richard said your calling is your business — raise it up so it becomes so profitable that you’re able to write the checks that change lives.
He also compared Kingdom-minded entrepreneurs to immigrants. A preacher once described immigrants as the greatest evangelists: they come to America because they heard it was a better place. When they get here, they call their relatives. Their relatives risk their lives to get there. They send resources back. That’s how we should be about the Kingdom — so compelled by what we’ve found that we can’t stop telling people about it.
Richard shared how he and his wife started making lunches for prostitutes and handing them out on the streets. He stood outside clubs and simply told men, “If you ever need a good church, here.” He didn’t preach condemnation. He told them about the Kingdom and God’s love. Prostitutes started attending his church and getting saved. That’s what business people do — they meet people where they are and serve them.